Christopher Leonard Email & Phone Number

Franklin, Tn, Us

Franklin, Tennessee, United States

Franklin, Tennessee, United States

In my role as Director of IT Service Management, I had the privilege of leading the creation and development of our ITSM services division from the ground up. With a focus on client needs, I provided strategic leadership and direction in the Service Management area, including overseeing our IT Support Services Team. My responsibilities were centered around advancing service management practices based on IT Service Management (ITSM) principles and leading teams to develop and implement effective service management processes.Aiming to elevate ITSM standards and leverage technology to support these goals, I collaborated closely with IT leaders both within and outside our organization to ensure our Service Management strategies remained responsive to the evolving business landscape. My leadership style is defined by a commitment to spearhead initiatives that encompass the formulation, execution, and meticulous management of a comprehensive plan aimed at promoting ITSM adoption and operational excellence. This included fostering a culture that embraces ITSM practices across both traditional and cloud-based environments.

Provide visionary leadership and strategic direction for a multifaceted IT Operations team, spanning corporate service desk, Level 2 and 3 IT and clinical support, telecom and network support, and local IT teams across multiple hospital facilities, all within a 24x7 operational framework. Foster a culture of collaboration and teamwork, while developing and optimizing comprehensive processes that ensure seamless support and operational excellence across the entire IT ecosystem.Leadership and Team Building:Cultivate a culture of excellence, collaboration, and innovation within the IT Operations department.Provide visionary leadership to motivate and empower team members, fostering a high-performance environment.Identify and nurture talent within the team, facilitating professional growth and development.Establish and maintain effective communication channels, ensuring seamless coordination among various teams and individuals.Implement strategies for team building, skill development, and cross-training to enhance the capabilities of the entire IT Operations team.Promote diversity and inclusivity, recognizing the value of different perspectives and backgrounds in achieving team success.Process Development and Optimization:Drive the development, enhancement, and standardization of operational processes and workflows across all IT support functions.Collaborate with key stakeholders to define and document best practices, ensuring consistent and efficient service delivery.Implement ITIL methodologies and frameworks to improve incident, problem, change, and asset management processes.Continuously evaluate and refine existing processes, leveraging automation and technology to increase efficiency and reduce response times.Monitor and measure (KPIs) to assess the effectiveness of processes and drive continuous improvement initiatives.Foster a culture of process adherence and accountability among team members, promoting a structured approach to service delivery.

Franklin, Tn

Lead a diverse and dedicated IT Operations team overseeing a wide-ranging scope of responsibilities, including corporate service desk, Level 2 and 3 IT and clinical support, telecom and network support, and multiple local IT teams, all within a demanding 24x7 operational environment.Leadership & Team Building:Cultivate excellence, collaboration, innovation in IT Ops.Motivate, empower, lead for high-performance.Identify, nurture talent, promote growth.Maintain effective communication, coordinate teams.Foster skill development, cross-training, diversity.Process Development & Optimization:Enhance, standardize operational workflows.Define, document best practices, ensure efficiency.Apply ITIL methods for incident, problem, change, asset management.Refine processes, use tech for efficiency, cut response time.Monitor KPIs, drive process improvement.Instill process adherence, accountability.Enterprise ITSM Platform Management:Lead enterprise ITSM platform selection, implementation.Define requirements, evaluate vendors, make informed choices.Oversee platform setup, align with goals, best practices.Establish robust incident, problem, change, asset processes.Manage, customize, integrate, update ITSM platform.Ensure ITIL, industry standards compliance, optimize for evolving needs.Train team, maximize ITSM capabilities for efficient service.

Franklin, Tn

Managed a network of 568 behavioral healthcare facilities with approximately 16,900 beds across 39 states in the U.S., the United Kingdom, and Puerto Rico as of November 30th, 2016.Collaborated with a team of Network Engineers to provide comprehensive support to all facilities.Oversaw the development, testing, deployment, documentation, and standardization of a new SDWAN solution for all Acadia facilities, utilizing the Viptela platform and collaborating with the Viptela team.Installed, deployed, and managed the integration of SolarWinds NPM, NTA, and SAM. Established alerting standards and dependencies in alignment with the specific needs of each support tier and Acadia's business requirements.Established and nurtured business relationships with new vendors to enhance the Acadia Network's brand. Strengthened existing vendor relationships to ensure their contributions continued to benefit the Acadia Network and its business.Took the lead in addressing major outages and effectively communicated with internal teams and remote locations. Coordinated resources to resolve underlying issues efficiently while maintaining transparent communication with stakeholders and application owners.Collaborated with the Network Engineering team to standardize network documentation and processes. Coordinated with internal teams to create and document processes and workflows, ensuring seamless interactions between departments and vendors for efficient handling of actionable items.

Brentwood, Tn

Functioned as a Network Engineer within a shared service support model, overseeing remote locations that encompassed over 6,000 nodes distributed across 8 hospitals and 2 datacenters.Managed extensive enterprise projects related to network infrastructure.Took the lead in an enterprise-wide firewall replacement initiative, employing Checkpoint 4600 and 4800 cluster models in a centralized management framework.Established and documented network device standards.Designed and documented configurations for ports, VLANs, and wireless setups.Collaborated with external vendors to facilitate new network designs, obtain equipment quotations, handle procurement, configure devices, and document the entire process.Effectively managed and supported the WAN environment, utilizing BGP over an MPLS backbone.Defined and documented Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for all incoming network infrastructure-related tasks and requests.Supervised all aspects of firewall management across locations, including VPN modifications and additions, URL and SSL inspection policies, and general firewall policy administration.Facilitated communication and directed corporate initiatives concerning network infrastructure changes and expansions to Information Systems directors at facility level, coordinating maintenance and downtime with local IT staff.

Brentwood, Tn

Functioned as a Network Engineer within a shared service support model, overseeing remote locations that encompassed over 6,000 nodes distributed across 8 hospitals and 2 datacenters.Managed extensive enterprise projects related to network infrastructure.Took the lead in an enterprise-wide firewall replacement initiative, employing Checkpoint 4600 and 4800 cluster models in a centralized management framework.Established and documented network device standards.Designed and documented configurations for ports, VLANs, and wireless setups.Collaborated with external vendors to facilitate new network designs, obtain equipment quotations, handle procurement, configure devices, and document the entire process.Effectively managed and supported the WAN environment, utilizing BGP over an MPLS backbone.Defined and documented Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for all incoming network infrastructure-related tasks and requests.Supervised all aspects of firewall management across locations, including VPN modifications and additions, URL and SSL inspection policies, and general firewall policy administration.Facilitated communication and directed corporate initiatives concerning network infrastructure changes and expansions to Information Systems directors at facility level, coordinating maintenance and downtime with local IT staff.

Performed monitoring and maintenance on diverse WAN circuits utilizing various transport technologies.Functioned as the Level 4 escalation point for lower-level technicians for support issues.Maintained 24x7 on-call duties, tracking issues within and documenting internal and customer-facing notes until resolution.Managed a sizable portfolio, overseeing 15,000+ circuits for over 80 different customers, including backbones to carrier partners, Customer Host circuits, and the core network.Proficiently handled LAN/WAN troubleshooting, resolving provider outages (large and small-scale), addressing IP routing issues on Cybera and provider networks, and rectifying provider field equipment problems.Collaborated with various service providers such as AT&T, Covad, New Edge Networks, Verizon, Bellsouth, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Windstream, Suddenlink, Metro Ethernet, Level 3, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, AT&T Wireless, and others.Worked closely with field technicians to resolve connectivity issues, which involved equipment diagnosis, configuration adjustments, addressing wiring/cabling issues, and facilitating equipment replacements.Managed the Cybera core network, including Juniper E series edge routers in four Points of Presence (POPs), cross-connects using a Cisco 8500 ATM switch to carrier partners, and Juniper 5200 Netscreen firewall administration.Demonstrated expertise in subnetting, TCP/IP, BGP, OSPF, DNS, DHCP, MPLS, IPROUTE, IPTABLES, and various security functions in a PCI-compliant environment, including 256-bit data encryption through McAfee firewalls.Oversaw the management and configuration of customer equipment, including Netopia 3341, 3346, 4552, and 3386 Ethernet routers, Cisco 831/871 Ethernet routers, 827/877 ADSL routers, 1600/1700/2800 Frame routers, and 8500 ATM switches. Additionally, managed Efficient and Siemens 5871 and 5890 routers, Cradlepoint 3G USB adapters, and administered Linux script servers for McAfee firewall devices.

First Level troubleshooting for customers IT issues including but not limited to PC issues and Internet/Network of customer location

Master Of Science It Management, It Management

Associate Of Science (A.S.), Computer Network Systems